1 00:00:15,36 --> 00:00:19,43 Great to be here tonight in Belmont the best part about being in Belmont that I had 2 00:00:19,44 --> 00:00:23,77 not only that I like this area very much I lived in both Lexington and Arlington 3 00:00:23,78 --> 00:00:24,12 about 4 00:00:24,16 --> 00:00:29,50 a different life time ago but way way back but you know so many nights I find myself 5 00:00:29,51 --> 00:00:33,21 returning from book talks from southern New Hampshire Southern Maine Rhode Island 6 00:00:34,23 --> 00:00:38,94 this is great it's going to take me less than an hour to get 110. Thank you for 7 00:00:38,95 --> 00:00:43,46 that. And while we're on the subject of thank you's Obviously I want to thank the 8 00:00:43,47 --> 00:00:47,60 Belmont public library but I particularly want to thank the both the historical 9 00:00:47,61 --> 00:00:51,91 society and the friends of the Belmont Belmont public library for sponsoring this 10 00:00:51,92 --> 00:00:58,62 talk jointly tonight you know libraries these days cannot have enough good friends 11 00:00:59,15 --> 00:01:04,56 so Belmont is blessed clearly to have some wonderful friends so thank you thank you 12 00:01:04,57 --> 00:01:08,50 all for that thank you for coming out tonight how many of you were this is my 2nd 13 00:01:09,04 --> 00:01:15,47 trip to the library here how many were at my 1st talk oh it's good not enough but 14 00:01:15,48 --> 00:01:21,89 this minute. I'm going to be talking about my 3rd book all about an 15 00:01:21,90 --> 00:01:25,51 iconic New England institution you know everybody 16 00:01:25,52 --> 00:01:30,00 a chronicle knows that there are there are actually 2 New England iconic 17 00:01:30,01 --> 00:01:35,72 institutions that I cannot pass by in all my travels all around New England one of 18 00:01:35,73 --> 00:01:36,91 them is 19 00:01:36,95 --> 00:01:43,73 a authentic diner born in New England and the other is also born in doing on an 20 00:01:43,74 --> 00:01:50,03 authentic New England General Store now I started to notice about I would say just 21 00:01:50,04 --> 00:01:55,48 under maybe 20 years ago more than 1015 years ago I started to notice that the 22 00:01:55,49 --> 00:01:57,39 diner seemed to be making something of 23 00:01:57,40 --> 00:02:01,73 a comeback. Now why the diner began to disappear I know 24 00:02:01,74 --> 00:02:03,45 a lot of you folks here have a fondness and 25 00:02:03,46 --> 00:02:08,14 a taste for history so you probably are not hearing anything you don't know you 26 00:02:08,15 --> 00:02:12,21 know me the diner began to disappear with the advent of the fast food franchises 27 00:02:12,22 --> 00:02:18,80 nationwide in the late fifty's mid mid fifty's even and by the sixty's mid sixty's 28 00:02:18,81 --> 00:02:23,37 late sixty's you know the diet the fast food franchises right the golden arches 29 00:02:23,38 --> 00:02:25,51 scopes because getting a hamburger for $0.20 on 30 00:02:25,52 --> 00:02:30,30 a highway this was brand new this was exciting this was different this was cheap 31 00:02:30,65 --> 00:02:35,17 right and so there's no there's no mystery about why dine it why diners begin to 32 00:02:35,18 --> 00:02:40,39 think ahead but there's also no real mystery to me why diners also began to make 33 00:02:40,40 --> 00:02:40,93 something of 34 00:02:40,94 --> 00:02:44,81 a comeback because if you fast forward 20 years from when the fast food franchises 35 00:02:45,05 --> 00:02:50,48 1st appeared then you know the newness and the gimmick part of it was wearing off 36 00:02:50,94 --> 00:02:55,85 they began to reappear they began to come back because not only was the newness 37 00:02:55,86 --> 00:03:01,22 gone but people realized that although you might be spending only $0.20 on 38 00:03:01,23 --> 00:03:05,92 a hamburger you generally weren't running into people you knew when you ran into 39 00:03:05,93 --> 00:03:09,81 a faceless franchise on the highway and yet even if you paid 40 00:03:09,82 --> 00:03:15,15 a little bit more for him burger at the local eatery the local diner there was an 41 00:03:15,19 --> 00:03:18,05 added value to that yes you were supporting 42 00:03:18,06 --> 00:03:24,40 a local business but beyond that you were being part of your community you were 43 00:03:24,41 --> 00:03:30,90 seeing and interacting with people from your community that's the nature of what we 44 00:03:30,91 --> 00:03:37,43 call 3rd places in American life and places like diners places like General Stores 45 00:03:37,43 --> 00:03:44,27 . Now in terms of general stores they began to disappear nil but 46 00:03:44,31 --> 00:03:48,98 after the diner did only there what looked like would be 47 00:03:49,02 --> 00:03:52,92 a glide path to obscurity for the general store looked like greased lightning 48 00:03:53,01 --> 00:03:57,49 compared to the disappearances of the diners because general stores began to 49 00:03:57,50 --> 00:04:04,27 disappear in large large batches they also have made 50 00:04:04,28 --> 00:04:08,17 a comeback but the fact that the general store has had 51 00:04:08,18 --> 00:04:14,93 a resurgence has combined that really perplexed me that's what's behind my wanting 52 00:04:14,94 --> 00:04:21,50 to write the book about it but because when it comes to diners they're unique 53 00:04:21,87 --> 00:04:27,03 they're unique in all the world they're unique to America and they're unique in if 54 00:04:27,04 --> 00:04:32,97 you like a diner how many of you have a favorite diner yet if you like 55 00:04:32,98 --> 00:04:39,68 a diner like I do and you're on the highway and you are lured by 56 00:04:39,69 --> 00:04:46,44 that beacon in the night when the neon beacon in the night it's not like you 57 00:04:46,45 --> 00:04:52,72 say to yourself or your partner you know wow we could stop here or we could drive 58 00:04:52,73 --> 00:04:55,46 a little bit more see if maybe we come across 59 00:04:55,47 --> 00:05:00,62 a fancy French restaurant it's not like that right the diner is unique if you want 60 00:05:00,66 --> 00:05:05,26 a diner there's no substitute for a diner but guess what when it comes to 61 00:05:05,27 --> 00:05:11,82 a general store there is nothing not thing not a single item on 62 00:05:11,83 --> 00:05:14,55 a single shelf in a single general store in 63 00:05:14,56 --> 00:05:16,96 a single town in New England that sells 64 00:05:16,97 --> 00:05:23,62 a single item that you can't buy somewhere else nothing often 65 00:05:23,72 --> 00:05:29,32 cheaper so why would it be that the general store after sliding to what looked like 66 00:05:29,33 --> 00:05:35,47 certain extinction should come back. Because it has the same thing to do with 67 00:05:35,48 --> 00:05:41,47 diners coming back community that's why they've come back that's what I want to 68 00:05:41,48 --> 00:05:45,84 talk about tonight that's why I wanted to write this book because 1st what this 69 00:05:45,85 --> 00:05:49,22 book is not so it's 70 00:05:49,23 --> 00:05:53,82 a relatively modest leaf in volume but it would be thicker if it was 71 00:05:53,83 --> 00:05:58,79 a comprehensive listing of all of New England's general stores it's not so if 72 00:05:58,80 --> 00:06:02,72 that's what you're looking for I'm not going to be offended if you leave now it's 73 00:06:02,73 --> 00:06:05,04 not a comprehensive listing it is 74 00:06:05,05 --> 00:06:09,65 a narrative of wide general stores of mattered so much to the development of our 75 00:06:09,66 --> 00:06:13,54 culture in New England why they began to be threatened with extinction and more 76 00:06:13,55 --> 00:06:18,00 importantly why they have come back and why today there are towns all over New 77 00:06:18,01 --> 00:06:21,58 England that are lucky enough to have an authentic old one general store that count 78 00:06:21,59 --> 00:06:27,60 them as more valuable than ever before why would that be well. 79 00:06:29,17 --> 00:06:35,81 Let's start with the biology so you're wondering what right what I deserved Oberg 80 00:06:35,85 --> 00:06:42,64 So you're looking you're looking at what was an endangered species that became 81 00:06:42,65 --> 00:06:45,19 completely extinct you will not find 82 00:06:45,20 --> 00:06:49,07 a dodo bird in the face of Mother Earth today this is an example of 83 00:06:49,08 --> 00:06:55,79 a presently endangered species that is not extinct and so is this now when it 84 00:06:55,80 --> 00:06:59,84 comes to the type of predator that hunted the dodo to extinction Here's an artist's 85 00:06:59,85 --> 00:07:01,21 rendering of what that might have looked like 86 00:07:01,22 --> 00:07:05,28 a grisly stuff when it comes to the type of predator that has threatened the 87 00:07:05,29 --> 00:07:08,97 general store with complete extinction I'm going to tell you right now none of our 88 00:07:08,98 --> 00:07:14,78 hands are clean you may have consorted with one of these predators Recently I know 89 00:07:14,82 --> 00:07:21,66 I have just in the past week. Right 90 00:07:22,15 --> 00:07:24,42 right but here's the thing there's 91 00:07:24,43 --> 00:07:29,51 a reason why it shows these 2 mm very modern iterations of the big box store right 92 00:07:29,61 --> 00:07:35,10 in fact when the general store began to look like it might be driven out of 93 00:07:35,11 --> 00:07:38,71 existence Sam Walton was still running things out of 94 00:07:38,72 --> 00:07:42,44 a single store in Missouri so how far back is that that's more than half 95 00:07:42,45 --> 00:07:47,96 a century ago more than 50 years ago so I want to call attention to the fact this 96 00:07:47,97 --> 00:07:52,89 is not new the general store being threatened with extinction is not new is not new 97 00:07:53,19 --> 00:07:56,27 you know I always like to point to one of my favorite chronicles of American 98 00:07:56,28 --> 00:08:01,20 popular culture who noticed this he was like the canary in the coal mine with 99 00:08:01,21 --> 00:08:06,12 a pool when he noticed this this is John Steinbeck at his home in Sag Harbor New 100 00:08:06,13 --> 00:08:09,46 York as he was about to set out in his custom built G.M.C. 101 00:08:09,47 --> 00:08:10,15 Pickup truck with 102 00:08:10,16 --> 00:08:14,57 a camper in the back which he nicknamed restaurant day anybody know what restaurant 103 00:08:14,58 --> 00:08:18,17 they were 1st in who said yes. 104 00:08:21,85 --> 00:08:27,27 Well well. Now I know I am in the company of 105 00:08:27,28 --> 00:08:33,20 a very literate audience you are absolutely right you are absolutely right it was 106 00:08:33,21 --> 00:08:39,49 dunking Hoodie's horse and in 196162 Steinbeck set out in Gross in one day 107 00:08:39,61 --> 00:08:44,43 with his best friend Charlie and they circle navigated America look what Steinbeck 108 00:08:44,44 --> 00:08:46,42 noticed more than 50 years ago and he had 109 00:08:46,43 --> 00:08:50,52 a perfect vantage points knows this right because he was traveling as is his want 110 00:08:50,53 --> 00:08:54,77 though he you know he loves these small towns he wasn't interested in the big 111 00:08:54,78 --> 00:08:58,03 cities for the most part and look what he noticed more than half 112 00:08:58,04 --> 00:09:02,20 a century ago that the small towns somehow seem to begin smaller the big cities 113 00:09:02,21 --> 00:09:06,45 bigger and those distinctive stores of all the different varieties including 114 00:09:06,46 --> 00:09:12,81 general stores seem to be disappearing more than 50 years ago now when Steinbeck 115 00:09:12,82 --> 00:09:16,53 was growing up in Salinas California this is 1800 this was 116 00:09:16,54 --> 00:09:19,94 a scene that was instantly recognizable to virtually every American and if you 117 00:09:19,95 --> 00:09:23,24 didn't frequent a place like this once or twice a week maybe once or twice 118 00:09:23,25 --> 00:09:27,21 a day you almost certainly did when you were growing up and if you didn't when you 119 00:09:27,22 --> 00:09:33,29 were growing up your parents definitely did and yet when you go 50 years out from 120 00:09:33,30 --> 00:09:39,55 1900 fewer and fewer people are in a general store at a whole never mind once 121 00:09:39,56 --> 00:09:42,69 a day so what happens 50 years after this picture 122 00:09:43,78 --> 00:09:48,28 a completely life changing event we don't think of it that way because it didn't 123 00:09:48,29 --> 00:09:51,100 happen all at once happen very gradually but it reached 124 00:09:52,04 --> 00:09:58,85 a turning point in 1950. In 1950 for the very 1st time in 125 00:09:58,86 --> 00:09:59,85 American history 126 00:10:00,04 --> 00:10:05,10 a majority of Americans own an automobile and it changed everything you know I 127 00:10:05,11 --> 00:10:09,32 would say there are certain phrases like you know end of the day and bottom line 128 00:10:09,33 --> 00:10:12,64 end and you know in a game changer right it's 129 00:10:12,65 --> 00:10:17,45 a game changer is one of those hackneyed cliches that overuse but this was 130 00:10:17,46 --> 00:10:18,33 authentic Lee 131 00:10:18,56 --> 00:10:21,95 a game changer we don't even think today I think enough about how much the 132 00:10:21,96 --> 00:10:26,76 automobile changed every aspect of American life we think of it in terms of how it 133 00:10:26,77 --> 00:10:31,08 changed the way we move about it was much more than that it changed the way 134 00:10:31,09 --> 00:10:37,73 Americans had relationships it changed the way Americans went about their work 135 00:10:37,79 --> 00:10:42,03 where they were why they work if they wanted to change jobs in 136 00:10:42,04 --> 00:10:46,18 a way they would never have done prior to the automobile because of the mobility 137 00:10:46,19 --> 00:10:50,31 that it gave them it changed the way Americans thought in terms of where they 138 00:10:50,32 --> 00:10:56,49 wanted to live how frequently they might move and it changed obviously the way 139 00:10:56,50 --> 00:11:02,75 Americans went about commerce. If you go 20 years out from this picture you have 140 00:11:02,76 --> 00:11:06,45 the mushrooming of the interstate highway system by the 1970 S. 141 00:11:06,60 --> 00:11:08,71 And then if you are in 142 00:11:08,72 --> 00:11:14,34 a small town the kind of small town that Steinbeck was describing and this is the 143 00:11:14,35 --> 00:11:14,90 choice of 144 00:11:15,22 --> 00:11:20,88 a little local store that he was describing and now you can jump in the car that's 145 00:11:20,89 --> 00:11:24,49 parked outside your driveway and drive it in an exit or 2 on the interstate and 146 00:11:24,50 --> 00:11:29,94 have this choice yeah makes it kind of tough if you're dealing with this choice but 147 00:11:30,17 --> 00:11:35,01 a funny thing happened on the way to extinction and this is kind of the central 148 00:11:35,02 --> 00:11:38,87 irony that made me ultimately want to write the book I was interested in general 149 00:11:38,88 --> 00:11:42,66 store of my wife's You know I think there is very little and it's true there's very 150 00:11:42,67 --> 00:11:44,93 little written about doing on general stores 151 00:11:44,94 --> 00:11:50,69 a couple state by state but no sort of threading them all together. But I wasn't 152 00:11:50,70 --> 00:11:55,24 sold and but I was looking at it I was looking at the some of the history and I was 153 00:11:55,25 --> 00:12:01,58 reading some of the cultural changes that seemed to impact general stores and then 154 00:12:01,59 --> 00:12:07,43 I realized that was the supreme irony because what happens is the same forces that 155 00:12:07,44 --> 00:12:13,38 we're talking about that seem poised to extinguish the General Store end up being 156 00:12:13,70 --> 00:12:20,04 like the diner the same forces that save them in the end how is that that's what 157 00:12:20,05 --> 00:12:24,13 we're going to talk about so by the time you get to the late sixty's early 158 00:12:24,14 --> 00:12:30,75 seventy's again slowly because of the automobile you have the rise of suburbia in 159 00:12:30,76 --> 00:12:37,19 a way that it never existed before the suburbs have existed since the mid 98 160 00:12:37,20 --> 00:12:43,89 hundreds but now because of the car the suburbs you have in every metropolitan area 161 00:12:43,90 --> 00:12:48,27 this is California but you know this is this happens coast to coast you have the 162 00:12:48,28 --> 00:12:53,93 suburbs are evolving and growing and mushroom in ways they never existed before you 163 00:12:53,94 --> 00:12:57,94 have these what I call super suburban communities where the boomers are now 164 00:12:57,95 --> 00:13:02,13 starting families of their own living in houses with square footage is that their 165 00:13:02,14 --> 00:13:04,66 parents could only dreamed about and 166 00:13:04,67 --> 00:13:09,75 a lot of these wonderful super suburban communities have often great school systems 167 00:13:09,76 --> 00:13:15,14 and great athletic programs and all kinds of community amenities and community and 168 00:13:15,15 --> 00:13:18,98 recreational programs and in the morning you drive your car along X. 169 00:13:18,99 --> 00:13:23,05 Number of different strip malls and have your choice of 27 or 30 different places 170 00:13:23,06 --> 00:13:27,55 to get any number of different types of coffee and life would seem to be 171 00:13:28,70 --> 00:13:35,35 a modern day Utopia right. So it turns 172 00:13:35,36 --> 00:13:38,48 out it turns out that within maybe 173 00:13:38,49 --> 00:13:44,56 a decade of the rise of these super suburban communities mid to late sixty's early 174 00:13:44,57 --> 00:13:49,96 seventy's. There are lots of people living in these super suburban communities that 175 00:13:50,00 --> 00:13:56,81 actually begin to miss something with all these amenities they actually begin to 176 00:13:56,82 --> 00:14:03,41 miss something anybody guess what that might be who said that 177 00:14:05,55 --> 00:14:10,19 yes it was community it was community lot of people were missing 178 00:14:10,88 --> 00:14:16,96 a richer sense of community. Perhaps that they had grown up with write it so it 179 00:14:16,97 --> 00:14:23,09 turns out that you can have you can the 20 feet from your next door neighbor you 180 00:14:23,10 --> 00:14:24,06 can smell it you're actually on 181 00:14:24,07 --> 00:14:28,67 a brisk walk for dinner but it doesn't necessarily mean you feel part of 182 00:14:28,68 --> 00:14:33,55 a close knit community so it turns out the community is the find by something else 183 00:14:34,38 --> 00:14:37,13 something that's not just about how many people live in 184 00:14:37,14 --> 00:14:43,70 a given spot it doesn't seem to be just the fine by volume or 185 00:14:43,71 --> 00:14:48,73 density the Seems to be another quality that the fines community and 186 00:14:48,74 --> 00:14:55,34 a lot of people were missing that they were missing that one person in particular 187 00:14:55,48 --> 00:15:02,04 was consumed with the idea of community in America and he's somebody who. 188 00:15:03,66 --> 00:15:09,05 I feel deserves more recognition then he has most people have no idea who he is I 189 00:15:09,06 --> 00:15:13,84 didn't before I was researching the book but it corn to term called the 3rd place 190 00:15:14,12 --> 00:15:16,86 in American life and he spent 191 00:15:16,87 --> 00:15:23,66 a decade researching community what community means in America the reason that he 192 00:15:23,67 --> 00:15:28,38 was interested in doing that is kind of I mean when you think about it now it's 193 00:15:28,39 --> 00:15:35,20 kind of dark because community was changing again right because of the way that 194 00:15:35,54 --> 00:15:40,48 life was speeding up people Mo Mo bar you had many more 2 parent families where 195 00:15:40,49 --> 00:15:41,88 both parents working full time you had 196 00:15:41,89 --> 00:15:46,62 a lot of single parent families and the people were more people were moving around 197 00:15:46,63 --> 00:15:51,77 more for work and so forth. And I'm not telling anything you don't know you know by 198 00:15:51,78 --> 00:15:58,44 the seventy's the notion of community was changing in America it was fracturing 199 00:15:58,92 --> 00:16:00,67 it was going away in 200 00:16:00,68 --> 00:16:06,93 a lot of metropolitan suburban areas and radio Oldenburg decided to study community 201 00:16:07,08 --> 00:16:13,62 because his thought was that if communities as we've known then become extinct then 202 00:16:13,63 --> 00:16:14,22 he will have 203 00:16:14,23 --> 00:16:20,93 a body of research to point to what people once called community in America and he 204 00:16:20,94 --> 00:16:21,33 spent 205 00:16:21,34 --> 00:16:26,30 a decade studying community and in 1909 he published his findings he published it 206 00:16:26,52 --> 00:16:26,66 in 207 00:16:26,67 --> 00:16:32,29 a book called The Great good place and in it he had something that was truly Revilla 208 00:16:32,30 --> 00:16:39,23 Tory that he had found it was this no matter how Free As A Bird we think we are 209 00:16:39,24 --> 00:16:44,36 as Americans we move where we want right we do what we want we work where we want 210 00:16:45,22 --> 00:16:50,77 go where we want we still he found spend the vast majority of our lives in one of 211 00:16:50,78 --> 00:16:53,79 just 3 places that said oh sure we may you may take 212 00:16:53,80 --> 00:16:57,47 a cruise you may go to Europe you may bum around your for 3 and 213 00:16:57,48 --> 00:17:00,04 a half years but that's negligible in terms of 214 00:17:00,05 --> 00:17:05,37 a whole life span which is what he was looking at and what he found was American 215 00:17:05,38 --> 00:17:11,70 spend the majority of our lives in one of just 3 places that's it 216 00:17:12,45 --> 00:17:17,56 the 1st place you can probably guess home family right 2nd place you probably also 217 00:17:17,57 --> 00:17:22,87 guess work it's the 3rd place that radio Limburg zeroed in on like no one ever had 218 00:17:22,88 --> 00:17:28,55 before because it's these 3rd places he found that we need and they were 219 00:17:28,56 --> 00:17:31,80 disappearing a 3rd place is not one particular place 220 00:17:31,81 --> 00:17:37,26 a 3rd place could be many different kinds of places where in one right now. A 3rd 221 00:17:37,27 --> 00:17:39,65 place can be a house of worship their place can be 222 00:17:39,66 --> 00:17:40,96 a place where you go to get your hair done 223 00:17:40,97 --> 00:17:43,56 a beauty shop Beauty Shop barber shop their place could be 224 00:17:43,57 --> 00:17:45,29 a general store it could be 225 00:17:45,30 --> 00:17:49,55 a public library May the good Lord bless you mean people it could be 226 00:17:49,95 --> 00:17:51,86 a neighborhood bar where you meet a friend for 227 00:17:51,87 --> 00:17:57,04 a drink after work where they really do know your day right yet the thing is about 228 00:17:57,05 --> 00:17:58,65 a 3rd place you may go to 229 00:17:58,66 --> 00:18:03,52 a 3rd place to do an assigned task right you may go to get 230 00:18:03,53 --> 00:18:05,02 a carton of milk you may go to return 231 00:18:05,03 --> 00:18:07,51 a book you may go to get your hair done you may go to have 232 00:18:07,52 --> 00:18:12,64 a drink with Ed right but when you go to these 3rd places they all have something 233 00:18:12,65 --> 00:18:18,48 in common even if you're going to do an assigned task you also have even if it's an 234 00:18:18,49 --> 00:18:24,98 unconscious thought that you will interact with people you know from your 235 00:18:25,06 --> 00:18:30,77 community and these were disappearing and what really Oldenburg found was that's 236 00:18:30,78 --> 00:18:33,72 not just like an add on it's not just like 237 00:18:33,94 --> 00:18:39,15 a lot of A nice if I run into it would you know it's not just nice we need that we 238 00:18:39,16 --> 00:18:45,12 need that it validates our choice of where we've chosen to live when we meet other 239 00:18:45,13 --> 00:18:50,93 people who've made the same choice who we know and like we needed and they were 240 00:18:50,94 --> 00:18:55,76 disappearing which didn't mean we needed it any less we just didn't have them as 241 00:18:55,77 --> 00:19:00,31 much and rail them or put his finger on it and what was happening in 242 00:19:00,32 --> 00:19:05,35 a lot of these school communities was that people were missing this in these big 243 00:19:05,36 --> 00:19:07,61 suburban communities and all these metropolitan areas 244 00:19:07,62 --> 00:19:11,48 a lot of the boomers as they were starting families of their own and bringing up 245 00:19:11,49 --> 00:19:17,37 their own kids a lot of people felt like you know what. I really want to live in 246 00:19:17,38 --> 00:19:19,56 a pace with in a town with the pace is 247 00:19:19,57 --> 00:19:24,16 a little bit slower maybe and where people really know each other and interact with 248 00:19:24,17 --> 00:19:31,16 each other you know in. I believe it was 1975 the might 249 00:19:31,17 --> 00:19:36,33 have been 1973 Life magazine published a nationwide poll that 250 00:19:36,34 --> 00:19:41,86 a lot of people found deeply upsetting disturbing and it was that 251 00:19:42,39 --> 00:19:49,12 a clear majority of Americans more than 60 percent said they had only sporadic or 252 00:19:49,16 --> 00:19:55,30 infrequent contact with their next door neighbor right that's what 253 00:19:55,31 --> 00:19:59,34 a lot of these people were feeling they were living this close they were living 254 00:19:59,35 --> 00:20:05,11 this close and they had only been free how can you have only infrequent Kohn How 255 00:20:05,12 --> 00:20:08,51 could you not bump into your next door neighbor me go out their car in the morning 256 00:20:09,40 --> 00:20:13,24 but they were interacting in any meaningful way and 257 00:20:13,25 --> 00:20:16,22 a lot of these folks in these suburban communities who were feeling like they 258 00:20:16,23 --> 00:20:18,78 wanted to have more of 259 00:20:18,79 --> 00:20:23,07 a sense of community for their children as they started their own families moved 260 00:20:24,06 --> 00:20:30,84 moved now I'm not saying it was one of history's great mass migrations mind you 261 00:20:31,35 --> 00:20:34,69 but it was sizable it was summers ago and they moved to 262 00:20:34,70 --> 00:20:40,29 a lot of small towns all around New England in search of these smaller tight knit 263 00:20:40,30 --> 00:20:44,79 communities with these wonderful thriving 3rd places where people gathered as 264 00:20:44,80 --> 00:20:48,93 neighbors they moved to South Acworth New Hampshire they moved to Putney Vermont 265 00:20:49,09 --> 00:20:55,36 they moved to Whitefield made and they found them and they found them and they 266 00:20:55,37 --> 00:21:01,93 found them they found them in Barnard from mine just for example you know and what 267 00:21:01,94 --> 00:21:07,44 they found too was that these 3rd places had never stopped being these wonderful 268 00:21:07,45 --> 00:21:11,87 3rd places these community gathering places they never stopped the barn 269 00:21:11,88 --> 00:21:17,16 a general store was the same genuine community gathering place in 1905 as it was in 270 00:21:17,17 --> 00:21:22,64 1905 as it was in 2005 as it was last fall when I was up there 271 00:21:24,83 --> 00:21:28,49 but then you jump forward about 20 years and 272 00:21:28,50 --> 00:21:33,18 a lot of these. Boomers by the way people who move to these smaller towns all 273 00:21:33,19 --> 00:21:36,73 around the women they walk the walk they bought 274 00:21:36,77 --> 00:21:42,95 a lot of these small general stores night and then you go about 20 more years into 275 00:21:42,96 --> 00:21:48,42 the future from their mid sixty's late sixty's 80 seventy's eighty's you get to the 276 00:21:48,43 --> 00:21:53,81 late ninety's and now lot of these people getting older they're thinking maybe I'd 277 00:21:53,82 --> 00:21:56,78 like to slow down maybe I'd like the interest somebody else and buy in the store 278 00:21:57,23 --> 00:21:59,55 take a little time off sounds like 279 00:21:59,56 --> 00:22:06,49 a good idea. The economy nationally is doing this people are not buying 280 00:22:06,50 --> 00:22:10,77 general stores. And so a lot of these stores 281 00:22:10,81 --> 00:22:15,60 a wave of them aware of them if you look at the data it's 282 00:22:15,61 --> 00:22:21,97 a wave close well than half the general stores closed in an 8 year period 283 00:22:22,74 --> 00:22:27,10 and now it really does look like the general store had a little flash 284 00:22:27,11 --> 00:22:31,42 a life there thank you boomers It looked like right it might come back and now it 285 00:22:31,43 --> 00:22:37,12 looks like well you know the bar to churn isn't coming back either had 286 00:22:37,13 --> 00:22:43,81 a good run and I think that if it weren't for one small south central New Hampshire 287 00:22:43,82 --> 00:22:47,91 hill town more than 50 percent of the general stores that exists today in New 288 00:22:47,92 --> 00:22:54,85 England would be God would be gone because one small town decided that sometimes to 289 00:22:54,86 --> 00:22:59,72 use another hackneyed cliche but I use that advise of the because just like 290 00:22:59,77 --> 00:23:04,67 a game changer with the automobile in 150 there's no other way to say that 291 00:23:04,68 --> 00:23:05,63 sometimes it took 292 00:23:05,64 --> 00:23:10,43 a village to save the general store and it certainly did in South Acworth New 293 00:23:10,44 --> 00:23:12,74 Hampshire I don't know if you're familiar with South Acworth it's one of those 294 00:23:12,75 --> 00:23:15,61 forgotten little hill towns that 295 00:23:15,62 --> 00:23:19,86 a lot of people are familiar with I wasn't familiar with the area until about 5 or 296 00:23:19,87 --> 00:23:24,48 8 years ago and then it became one of my favorite parts of New Hampshire think 297 00:23:24,65 --> 00:23:26,49 jumping over the border in southern New Hampshire go 298 00:23:26,50 --> 00:23:30,74 a little bit west Peterborough but OK and I'm not. Now go 299 00:23:30,75 --> 00:23:34,10 a little bit further west Keene now you're on the Vermont border now make 300 00:23:34,11 --> 00:23:40,27 a triangle from Peter Byron Keene up into the hill country and you have of South 301 00:23:40,28 --> 00:23:45,14 Acworth you have Marlowe Westmoreland all stead these wonderful little hill towns 302 00:23:45,72 --> 00:23:46,86 and there has been 303 00:23:46,87 --> 00:23:51,85 a general store in south Acworth for almost 150 years all the general stores in 304 00:23:51,86 --> 00:23:53,44 this book have been around for at least 305 00:23:53,45 --> 00:23:58,55 a century and 3 quarters of them to twice that long more than 200 years all of them 306 00:23:58,56 --> 00:23:59,35 have always been 307 00:23:59,36 --> 00:24:04,36 a general store and never anything else but they all of the pied that same physical 308 00:24:04,37 --> 00:24:08,08 footprint for all of that time except one which would be the last that we'll talk 309 00:24:08,09 --> 00:24:12,32 about but most importantly every store in the book is 310 00:24:12,33 --> 00:24:16,44 a genuine community gathering place there are no places in the book or would be in 311 00:24:16,45 --> 00:24:21,87 the book that simply call themselves the general store they are all 3rd places they 312 00:24:21,88 --> 00:24:27,75 are all genuine community gathering places and this was certainly true in some in 313 00:24:27,76 --> 00:24:34,34 South Acworth But you know the owners of the store there. Had owned the store for 314 00:24:34,35 --> 00:24:40,16 37 years way more than the average and by the time you get to 2000 they also raided 315 00:24:40,17 --> 00:24:41,29 slowdown they hope to find 316 00:24:41,30 --> 00:24:45,68 a buyer for the store couldn't do it they tried to sell the store couldn't do it in 317 00:24:45,69 --> 00:24:52,44 the wake of 911-2001 as you know one of the aftereffects was that tourism was off 318 00:24:52,53 --> 00:24:55,90 more than 90 percent in some parts and illegal people just were traveling and for 319 00:24:55,91 --> 00:24:59,72 some of these small general stores that's vital the tourism traffic is vital for at 320 00:24:59,73 --> 00:25:00,81 least 2 or 3 seasons 321 00:25:00,82 --> 00:25:05,24 a year and the store closed and the town had to deal with the fact that they had 322 00:25:05,25 --> 00:25:10,57 lost their one single genuine community gathering place their only one but nobody 323 00:25:10,58 --> 00:25:13,76 seemed to be able to come forward by the still and finally at 324 00:25:13,77 --> 00:25:19,49 a meeting one time and somebody was taught was speculating they said you know what 325 00:25:19,50 --> 00:25:26,10 if we could do collectively what we don't seem to be able to do individually. 326 00:25:27,19 --> 00:25:31,13 What if we all pooled our money look they'd already pulled their money to put in 327 00:25:31,17 --> 00:25:34,70 put an ad in The New York Times Sunday magazine for someone interested in owning 328 00:25:34,71 --> 00:25:40,42 a general store that didn't work they said what if we put our money together and we 329 00:25:40,51 --> 00:25:42,16 bought the general store as 330 00:25:42,17 --> 00:25:49,64 a town together I know sounds very socialist. Sometimes 331 00:25:49,65 --> 00:25:51,58 that works OK call me 332 00:25:51,59 --> 00:25:57,71 a socialist sometimes there's no alternative but to come together right we do it to 333 00:25:57,72 --> 00:26:03,14 help somebody out in dire straits right well they came together to help out there 334 00:26:03,15 --> 00:26:07,80 still are which was in dire straits and also important to them and also like 335 00:26:07,81 --> 00:26:11,42 a member of the family they came together they did something that had never been 336 00:26:11,43 --> 00:26:17,31 done with any general store in America and that was to come together and form 337 00:26:17,32 --> 00:26:21,25 a co-op and own their own general store it was just like 338 00:26:21,26 --> 00:26:24,23 a food car you put an X X amount of money you get X. 339 00:26:24,24 --> 00:26:26,55 Amount of discount on your groceries if you put in X. 340 00:26:26,56 --> 00:26:30,90 Amount of hours in working in the store and they did they formed 341 00:26:30,91 --> 00:26:34,38 a co-op people went to work in the store they came up with all kinds of other 342 00:26:34,39 --> 00:26:35,94 creative ideas they they built 343 00:26:35,95 --> 00:26:39,49 a pizza oven out back to bring in more money they started these wonderful quarterly 344 00:26:39,50 --> 00:26:43,41 harvest dinners that today bring in visiting chefs from all over New England the 345 00:26:43,42 --> 00:26:46,61 some fact where the village store today is thriving like never before but more 346 00:26:46,62 --> 00:26:49,49 importantly they created a template they created 347 00:26:49,50 --> 00:26:54,08 a model that other general stores all around the one that would find themselves in 348 00:26:54,09 --> 00:26:58,85 the same position could look to and say look what they did in South Acworth if it 349 00:26:58,86 --> 00:27:01,06 had failed if there wasn't 350 00:27:01,07 --> 00:27:05,79 a model I believe to be 50 percent fewer general stores in New England today and I 351 00:27:05,80 --> 00:27:10,08 hope the lights don't go out there any time soon but in Shrewsbury Vermont. A very 352 00:27:10,09 --> 00:27:11,23 different story about 353 00:27:11,81 --> 00:27:16,19 a village coming to the rescue of their village store because here it wasn't only 354 00:27:16,20 --> 00:27:18,87 a small town going up against the bum economy and 355 00:27:18,88 --> 00:27:21,47 a store that it closed they also had to deal in 356 00:27:21,48 --> 00:27:26,25 a major way with Mother Nature now when this picture was taken Marjorie Pierce on 357 00:27:26,26 --> 00:27:30,82 the right there was in her mid seventy's and at that point her family the Pierces 358 00:27:30,95 --> 00:27:37,25 had already owned and run Pierce's general store for over 75 years right and it is 359 00:27:37,26 --> 00:27:41,29 the heart and soul of shoes before mine it is the heart and soul of shoes 360 00:27:41,30 --> 00:27:44,52 bereavement feel can you see because I realize I've been standing here the whole 361 00:27:44,53 --> 00:27:50,02 time are you sure. It's. 362 00:27:51,64 --> 00:27:55,22 Just tell me to move seriously you can just go like this and I'll move any time 363 00:27:55,23 --> 00:27:55,34 there's 364 00:27:55,35 --> 00:28:01,48 a problem but it is the heart and soul of Shrewsbury remind you are looking at 365 00:28:01,49 --> 00:28:07,25 downtown she was rhythm on every hour. Not I'm assuming because there's 2 people 366 00:28:07,63 --> 00:28:13,25 but you know but if you go up 20 years in the mid ninety's Marjorie Pierce was in 367 00:28:13,26 --> 00:28:17,72 her mid ninety's and at this point she would like nothing so much as 368 00:28:17,73 --> 00:28:18,36 a chance to take 369 00:28:18,37 --> 00:28:22,49 a little time off thank you very much OK Can I please get out my damn feet already 370 00:28:23,15 --> 00:28:27,64 OK problem is that if Marjorie Piers is not there to open and run Piers is still 371 00:28:27,65 --> 00:28:33,25 a closes at 6 o'clock the storm is going to be open so she wanted somebody to buy 372 00:28:33,26 --> 00:28:38,17 the store just like in South Aqua and she could not find someone to buy the store 373 00:28:38,46 --> 00:28:41,99 and the store closed and just like in South Acworth the little town issues 374 00:28:42,00 --> 00:28:47,34 repopulation 842 had to wrestle with the fact they had lost their one community 375 00:28:47,38 --> 00:28:53,27 gathering place well Marjorie Pierce felt terrible it wasn't like she could reopen 376 00:28:53,28 --> 00:28:58,71 the store she still couldn't stand their feet all day but she did call up one of 377 00:28:58,72 --> 00:29:01,80 her best friends who happens to be one of my favorite New Englanders now that the 378 00:29:01,81 --> 00:29:05,100 store was closed Paul Broun Now Paul Broun is someone I bet 379 00:29:06,01 --> 00:29:08,30 a lot of you folks who. I have 380 00:29:08,31 --> 00:29:14,66 a fondness for history as and you. Would love Paul Broun Paul Broun is the creator 381 00:29:14,67 --> 00:29:18,54 in the executive director of the Preservation Trust of Vermont and what the 382 00:29:18,55 --> 00:29:25,40 Preservation Trust does today all across America they started doing in Vermont and 383 00:29:25,41 --> 00:29:30,64 what they do is they help cities and towns all across the country hold on to their 384 00:29:30,65 --> 00:29:35,47 history and they don't do it out of an overdeveloped sense of sentimentality OK 385 00:29:35,73 --> 00:29:36,85 they do it out of 386 00:29:36,86 --> 00:29:41,43 a very developed sense of economics because what they have found it sounds simple 387 00:29:41,50 --> 00:29:46,31 right it sounds self-evident but try telling that to the number of cities and towns 388 00:29:46,32 --> 00:29:53,09 that go tear down historical properties all the time and they almost always end 389 00:29:53,10 --> 00:29:59,40 up ruining what they've done right the Gospel that Paul Broun preaches is that 390 00:30:00,02 --> 00:30:04,72 if you preserve historic property we could be talking about a historic Main Street 391 00:30:04,73 --> 00:30:08,51 a shopping district we could be talking about a historic movie theater a library 392 00:30:08,52 --> 00:30:12,51 a general store a perfect example is in Mill Complex right 393 00:30:12,52 --> 00:30:18,37 a mill complex that is abandoned shut down yes they even you know ask 394 00:30:18,38 --> 00:30:22,89 a vault perfect example it's like my favorite example you know like so many mill 395 00:30:22,90 --> 00:30:27,05 towns all around the way that matter where North Adams one socket was to Fall River 396 00:30:27,22 --> 00:30:31,51 by the time you get to the sixty's the mills of shut down right textile industry 397 00:30:31,65 --> 00:30:37,21 all moved on and you're sitting on these mill complexes that are falling apart 398 00:30:38,22 --> 00:30:43,72 they're havens for drug use and crime and these cities wanted nothing so much as to 399 00:30:43,73 --> 00:30:44,29 be able to take 400 00:30:44,30 --> 00:30:50,40 a huge wrecking ball the size of Chicago and obliterate these things when 401 00:30:51,17 --> 00:30:55,100 those buildings were not made to be torn down. But and many of those cities like 402 00:30:56,01 --> 00:30:59,38 April found that it was going to actually cost more money to tear them down than it 403 00:30:59,39 --> 00:31:06,28 might to develop them so they sat they sat and they sat. Ask the mayor have ruled 404 00:31:06,29 --> 00:31:12,26 today if he's glad they didn't hear those buildings down because today is 405 00:31:12,27 --> 00:31:17,94 a thriving bedroom community for Boston of all places because the commuter rail 406 00:31:17,95 --> 00:31:19,44 runs right through there and in 407 00:31:19,45 --> 00:31:22,17 a fraction of the cost of living in Boston you can live in 408 00:31:22,18 --> 00:31:24,17 a condo in what was once 409 00:31:24,18 --> 00:31:29,51 a mill complex that's the gospel Paul Broun preaches don't tear it down and leave 410 00:31:29,52 --> 00:31:33,11 a vacant lot because developers are not interested for the most part often in 411 00:31:33,12 --> 00:31:35,38 trying to imagine what they could put in 412 00:31:35,39 --> 00:31:40,71 a vacant lot just like home buyers would almost always rather be able to imagine 413 00:31:40,75 --> 00:31:45,35 what they could do with the property they can see now that well that's no Margery 414 00:31:45,36 --> 00:31:48,38 Pierce wanted to talk to Paul Broun about but it was in a way so she called 415 00:31:48,39 --> 00:31:52,59 a pause she said Paul I need to talk to you so Paul being the guy he is he jumped 416 00:31:52,60 --> 00:31:52,95 in his beat 417 00:31:52,96 --> 00:31:58,62 a Prius and he drove down from Burlington and he met with Marjorie Pierce and she 418 00:31:58,63 --> 00:32:05,39 said oh I need to reopen the Stella. Respect 419 00:32:05,83 --> 00:32:08,97 How are you going to do that Marjorie she said I'm not going to do it you are 420 00:32:10,29 --> 00:32:16,98 exempt sorry DIA I'm going to give you the stuff. And 421 00:32:16,99 --> 00:32:22,05 a man to give you $10000.00 which you don't deserve but it's pretty much all the 422 00:32:22,06 --> 00:32:27,25 money out and I don't expect to need it too much my lot so Paul had to explain to 423 00:32:27,26 --> 00:32:31,30 Marjorie that this is not with the Preservation Trust it's they don't own they're 424 00:32:31,31 --> 00:32:37,90 not property owners right they help cities and towns invest in Vero own properties 425 00:32:38,06 --> 00:32:42,61 they help them raise money they help them find grants they help them find lowing 426 00:32:42,68 --> 00:32:47,16 low interest loans they help and get federal funding state funding local funding 427 00:32:47,28 --> 00:32:53,53 but they don't own property outright and Marjorie appears listen and she said. What 428 00:32:53,54 --> 00:32:56,85 I hear Paul Broun tell it it went like that back and forth about 35 minutes about 429 00:32:56,86 --> 00:32:58,74 35 minutes later Paul Broun is back in his beat 430 00:32:58,75 --> 00:33:02,99 a Prius making his way back up to Burlington and guess what the Preservation Trust 431 00:33:03,37 --> 00:33:08,27 only the 1st piece of property out right. Here Paul tell it you try to send over 432 00:33:08,28 --> 00:33:09,36 Marjorie Paris when she's in 433 00:33:09,37 --> 00:33:15,56 a fat off night so he did come back down to Shrewsbury but we could have later and 434 00:33:15,57 --> 00:33:20,19 he had told the local historical society you guys can relate like my friend Sally 435 00:33:20,20 --> 00:33:23,57 Dines are there in the middle who runs the historical society he had tipped off the 436 00:33:23,58 --> 00:33:27,91 historical society he wanted to meet with them at the store so there they are they 437 00:33:27,92 --> 00:33:31,86 met at the store and he told them he said look I have 438 00:33:31,87 --> 00:33:37,44 a change here I realize he said you know and it's true he said I I hold the deed to 439 00:33:37,45 --> 00:33:41,81 pierce but I'm not going to be here I'm not going to be run the store and they said 440 00:33:41,90 --> 00:33:48,50 well who's going to run it and he said You walk. And they said wall while they were 441 00:33:48,51 --> 00:33:53,19 freaking out they were like Paul Whoa whoa whoa whoa none of us were were 442 00:33:53,20 --> 00:33:59,59 Vermonters we don't run businesses we're crass people were farmers because of the 443 00:33:59,60 --> 00:34:04,32 hat makes cheese. I didn't know not but he wasn't ready to run 444 00:34:04,33 --> 00:34:09,07 a store right so he sold it to the store but they didn't want to run 445 00:34:09,08 --> 00:34:14,52 a store he said for LAX He said We've done this before we'll do it again we're 446 00:34:14,53 --> 00:34:17,06 going to take lots of field trips you can have 447 00:34:17,07 --> 00:34:20,03 a lots of homework you're going to learn how to inventory 448 00:34:20,04 --> 00:34:21,51 a store you're going to learn how to order 449 00:34:21,52 --> 00:34:24,36 a product you're going to learn you're going to learn how to renovate 450 00:34:24,76 --> 00:34:27,79 a 200 year old general store and I think I did 451 00:34:27,80 --> 00:34:31,76 a pretty fine job don't you right now I'm not saying it didn't go off without 452 00:34:31,77 --> 00:34:37,50 a hitch OK because just before they reopened in 2009 they went back before the town 453 00:34:37,51 --> 00:34:39,48 and they asked for another $1500.00 now this is 454 00:34:39,49 --> 00:34:45,28 a community of $842.00 people that already raised $68000.00. That's 455 00:34:45,29 --> 00:34:49,88 a lot of money but they want to $1500.00 more they said if we're going to be 456 00:34:49,89 --> 00:34:53,71 a genuine community gathering place through thick and to do the worst of amount to 457 00:34:53,72 --> 00:34:57,89 confront us we feel we need to have an emergency generator so the lights will 458 00:34:57,90 --> 00:35:01,54 always stay on the community can depend we can meet here it could be that kind of 459 00:35:01,55 --> 00:35:04,44 gathering place if need be and you know there was 460 00:35:04,45 --> 00:35:09,95 a lot of grumbling you know Marjorie Pierson operator but they got it they got the 461 00:35:09,96 --> 00:35:14,15 emergency generator and in 2009 they reopened and the beating heart 462 00:35:14,16 --> 00:35:17,66 a little shoes were from on downtown Shrewsbury Vermont was beating once again and 463 00:35:17,67 --> 00:35:24,62 all was good for 2 years never I said Mother Nature weighed in right 464 00:35:25,42 --> 00:35:32,08 well ironically Ironically it ends up being the worst that of Ramana summer could 465 00:35:32,09 --> 00:35:33,10 throw at that not 466 00:35:33,11 --> 00:35:37,80 a winter because in August 2011 Hurricane Irene barreled up the East Coast it had 467 00:35:37,81 --> 00:35:38,50 been downgraded to 468 00:35:38,51 --> 00:35:41,98 a tropical storm by the time it reached the mountains but no matter right it 469 00:35:41,99 --> 00:35:44,64 doesn't matter if you're packing the 75 mile an hour winds of the official 470 00:35:44,65 --> 00:35:49,00 hurricane or the 67 mile an hour winds of probable Storm Irene you're still going 471 00:35:49,01 --> 00:35:53,77 to blow away 200 year old covered bridges like so much driftwood and he did the 1st 472 00:35:53,78 --> 00:35:57,77 day Irene hit Vermont which is still the with the state's worst natural disaster in 473 00:35:57,78 --> 00:36:03,31 its history power went out virtually all over mine lights went out all over for 474 00:36:03,32 --> 00:36:05,55 mine including little Shrewsbury for 475 00:36:05,56 --> 00:36:12,41 a month with one exception. Because in Shrewsbury 476 00:36:12,42 --> 00:36:17,75 Vermont Marjorie Pierce and her crew talk about the historical society saving the 477 00:36:17,76 --> 00:36:23,40 day. They trooped up through the rain and the wind and the howling been the flying 478 00:36:23,41 --> 00:36:27,66 debris they fired up that emergency generator the lights came on to hear Sally 479 00:36:27,67 --> 00:36:30,49 dying to tell she said you know I looked at those windows late the afternoon that 480 00:36:30,50 --> 00:36:34,24 I've been hit she said it looked like something out of Night Of The Living Dead She 481 00:36:34,25 --> 00:36:40,43 said people were like coming out of the woods. Seeking out the light and they got 482 00:36:40,44 --> 00:36:44,43 to the store in the lights were on in the coffee was hot and the wife I was working 483 00:36:44,44 --> 00:36:47,39 and people were able to call their relatives and tell them everything is OK and you 484 00:36:47,40 --> 00:36:50,24 may not be surprised to learn nobody's ever bellyache up 485 00:36:50,25 --> 00:36:55,26 a bed emergency generator ever again. So now we've reached we've reached we've 486 00:36:55,27 --> 00:36:55,53 reached 487 00:36:55,54 --> 00:37:00,06 a pivot point we've talked about why General Stores matter early on and when that's 488 00:37:00,07 --> 00:37:03,84 history why they would threaten how they begin to disappear and how they began to 489 00:37:03,85 --> 00:37:06,86 be saved right but now you reach 490 00:37:06,87 --> 00:37:11,91 a point by the mid 2000 with the national economies doing this now right now it's 491 00:37:11,92 --> 00:37:16,38 booming now it's doing good so now all over the weekend when you have cases where 492 00:37:16,39 --> 00:37:23,25 general stores are closing there are now some individuals who can come forward 493 00:37:23,70 --> 00:37:27,41 and can singlehandedly save the general store in 494 00:37:27,42 --> 00:37:32,55 a chapter I call honey I bought the store I like to kid my friend Larry Deerfield 495 00:37:33,28 --> 00:37:36,26 Yeah Anybody been to firms in Carlisle just 496 00:37:36,27 --> 00:37:40,62 a little west of here yup yup I like the kid Larry that he's the only person in the 497 00:37:40,63 --> 00:37:44,90 chapter honey about the store who actually said those words verbatim to his lovely 498 00:37:44,91 --> 00:37:48,69 wife Robin honey I bought the store he came to my 1st book talk actually and he 499 00:37:48,70 --> 00:37:55,69 corrected me said Ted I didn't say Honey I bought this. I said I thought you 500 00:37:55,70 --> 00:38:01,53 did what did you say he said No I said Honey I'd like to buy the store. 501 00:38:02,95 --> 00:38:08,07 I said Larry that see the words. I said you're very lucky where I didn't say honey 502 00:38:08,65 --> 00:38:12,44 I hope you didn't throw out the receipt but you know the great thing about Larry 503 00:38:12,45 --> 00:38:19,44 and Robin. They sold the store this past year and they could have sold the store 504 00:38:19,45 --> 00:38:24,85 any time over the last 1520 years they really almost needed to have sold the store 505 00:38:24,86 --> 00:38:25,00 for 506 00:38:25,01 --> 00:38:30,34 a variety of reasons in the last 2 years and they still didn't because they were determined 507 00:38:30,35 --> 00:38:30,72 to find 508 00:38:30,73 --> 00:38:36,56 a buyer who would commit to keeping the store the general store so they get 509 00:38:36,57 --> 00:38:42,07 a huge huge round of applause for me in my book but my favorite honey about the 510 00:38:42,08 --> 00:38:48,83 store involves I think it's safe to say the most unlikely general store owner in 511 00:38:48,84 --> 00:38:54,05 America Steve Cordasco So yes 512 00:38:54,18 --> 00:39:01,02 a genuine bona fide Hollywood celebrity you know. If you watch the 513 00:39:01,03 --> 00:39:06,90 office probably better known as the world's worst boss. You know Steve Carell grew 514 00:39:06,91 --> 00:39:09,35 up in Acton Massachusetts just 515 00:39:09,36 --> 00:39:14,73 a little bit west to hair right and when Steve was growing up there now that I've 516 00:39:14,74 --> 00:39:20,37 talked to him on the phone I call him Steve. When Steve was growing up in act and 517 00:39:20,58 --> 00:39:21,01 there was 518 00:39:21,02 --> 00:39:26,50 a it wonderful general store unfortunately long gone but he said it was the 1st 519 00:39:26,51 --> 00:39:29,56 place that he was allowed to go all by himself as 520 00:39:29,57 --> 00:39:33,13 a little boy on his bike probably with his own allowance money journalling around 521 00:39:33,14 --> 00:39:39,19 in the saddle bag of his banana seat bike to buy candy all by himself. How many of 522 00:39:39,20 --> 00:39:43,51 you had the same experience how many of you for how many of you was at 523 00:39:43,52 --> 00:39:48,90 a small local store where you were allowed to go 1st all by yourself right I love 524 00:39:48,91 --> 00:39:51,06 asking that because so many people 525 00:39:51,10 --> 00:39:54,91 a majority usually in the room where I could have had that same expect same thing 526 00:39:54,92 --> 00:39:56,90 for me same thing for me I grew up 527 00:39:56,91 --> 00:40:01,12 a little east here I grew up in Boston Harbor and Winthrop or as I think they refer 528 00:40:01,13 --> 00:40:04,50 to it the charming little seaside town at the end of runway 27 L. 529 00:40:04,50 --> 00:40:06,74 . It was 530 00:40:06,78 --> 00:40:10,70 a noisy childhood same thing little local store allowed to go to 1st and it was the 531 00:40:10,71 --> 00:40:16,33 same thing for Steve's wife Nancy seed wife Nancy who grew up in this way there was 532 00:40:16,34 --> 00:40:22,24 years she grew up on the social She grew up in Cohasset and same thing for her. She 533 00:40:22,25 --> 00:40:26,20 told me on summer nights her big sister tissues to go next door to Marshfield the 534 00:40:26,21 --> 00:40:29,33 Marshall Hills general store where they would buy penny candy or have an ice cream 535 00:40:29,52 --> 00:40:34,79 and about 15 years ago Nancy sister Cish went out to Hollywood over Christmas time 536 00:40:34,80 --> 00:40:39,20 to visit her sister and famous brother in law while she was there she told Nancy 537 00:40:39,34 --> 00:40:44,63 that the Marshfield Hills Jim Summers are saying and if she said who didn't invite 538 00:40:45,02 --> 00:40:49,56 him to said I don't know if anybody's going to buy and he said what is known about 539 00:40:49,80 --> 00:40:51,39 and is that she took out 540 00:40:51,40 --> 00:40:55,49 a copy of the globe that she'd been reading on the plane she said Read that. In 541 00:40:55,50 --> 00:40:59,48 turns out some local developer was proposing turning into the condos and at that 542 00:40:59,49 --> 00:41:03,78 point Steve overhearing this went into the kitchen where they were talking long 543 00:41:03,79 --> 00:41:07,96 story short again when Nancy SR test returned out here to Boston that Christmas 544 00:41:07,97 --> 00:41:09,41 time she had with her 545 00:41:09,66 --> 00:41:15,86 a blank check to purchase the Marshall Hills general store and it is an authentic 546 00:41:15,98 --> 00:41:19,37 New England general store in ways that some general stores that still exist 547 00:41:19,38 --> 00:41:24,50 elsewhere New England don't even have anymore it still has on the far right there 548 00:41:24,51 --> 00:41:24,94 it still has 549 00:41:24,95 --> 00:41:29,66 a working post office attached to it time was that the post office was an integral 550 00:41:29,67 --> 00:41:32,26 part of every single general store but the U.S.P.S. 551 00:41:32,27 --> 00:41:36,54 Is not real fond of that arrangement anymore you don't see it much anymore it's 552 00:41:36,55 --> 00:41:40,64 still the case in Marshfield mills on the 3rd floor of that little attic cuple room 553 00:41:41,04 --> 00:41:45,22 during the Civil War They stitched Union Army uniforms up there and I think the 554 00:41:45,23 --> 00:41:45,80 corrals did 555 00:41:45,81 --> 00:41:51,12 a great job of maintaining the historical integrity of the store don't you look at 556 00:41:51,13 --> 00:41:56,80 those lines very very similar they kept the historical integrity and Steve did make 557 00:41:56,81 --> 00:42:00,71 his sister not Jewish the general manager of the store she runs it today today the 558 00:42:00,72 --> 00:42:06,57 carousal house in Cohasset they're out every summer and no summer no summer today 559 00:42:06,58 --> 00:42:08,49 Marshall Hills is complete without 560 00:42:08,50 --> 00:42:14,27 a confirmed corrodes sighting at his store as you can see so so far we've talked 561 00:42:14,31 --> 00:42:20,62 really about saving the general store saving but you know as I put this stuff 562 00:42:20,63 --> 00:42:25,55 together I also felt like it was important to pay some oh my gosh if you'll permit 563 00:42:25,56 --> 00:42:25,87 me to use 564 00:42:25,88 --> 00:42:32,49 a fancy French were. To some stores they have never needed saving but they deserve 565 00:42:32,86 --> 00:42:39,37 a little bit of credit and attention to these A stores that are so ingrained 566 00:42:39,51 --> 00:42:45,75 so interwoven into the fabric of their community that in these towns it's 567 00:42:45,76 --> 00:42:51,79 impossible to imagine this store being up for sale why would it be up for sale we 568 00:42:51,80 --> 00:42:57,15 live there everybody does right these are stores I call tried and true they're all 569 00:42:57,16 --> 00:43:01,18 remarkable I'll just give you one for an example one of my favorites is up in 570 00:43:01,19 --> 00:43:05,66 Warren Vermont so kind of up there in the green mountains kind of distant between 571 00:43:05,70 --> 00:43:11,43 Waitsfield Warren you know ski country up there and it is the heart and soul of 572 00:43:11,44 --> 00:43:15,69 Warren Vermont it like all these tours has been there in Warren scale here is early 573 00:43:15,70 --> 00:43:16,39 1940 S. 574 00:43:16,40 --> 00:43:21,88 But it's been there for over 200 years and it is it's really in many ways sort of 575 00:43:21,89 --> 00:43:28,51 like ah this thing that and it's perfectly OK yep just do that do that that's what 576 00:43:28,52 --> 00:43:30,21 my kids do when they're watching T.V. 577 00:43:30,71 --> 00:43:33,21 Actually they say stuff to some don't think 578 00:43:33,25 --> 00:43:39,51 a place I don't know. But yeah I get 579 00:43:39,52 --> 00:43:41,69 a lot of the you know dead to make a better story than 580 00:43:41,70 --> 00:43:48,42 a window. It is really one of those general stores that when you go 581 00:43:48,47 --> 00:43:51,93 in anybody ever been there yet have you ever had 582 00:43:51,94 --> 00:43:58,89 a sandwich from there. And I measure the war in store sandwiches in miles so it's 583 00:43:58,90 --> 00:44:01,77 like some of this is some sandwiches a 5 now 584 00:44:02,09 --> 00:44:07,85 a look and it's been like 55 miles right now I'm still eating this image of it but 585 00:44:07,86 --> 00:44:11,20 it's one of those places that just draws you in when you're in there you don't want 586 00:44:11,21 --> 00:44:15,14 to leave I was last in there so this is funny actually I was last in there 3 weeks 587 00:44:15,15 --> 00:44:16,38 ago when I was shooting 588 00:44:16,39 --> 00:44:21,04 a Main Street story for Chronicle that will air just before Thanksgiving but before 589 00:44:21,05 --> 00:44:25,42 that it was very easy for me to recall exactly when I'd been in there because of 590 00:44:25,43 --> 00:44:30,36 what was happening nationally before 3 weeks ago I had last been in there in the 591 00:44:30,37 --> 00:44:37,10 spring of 2016 March 26th. So it was whether you care to recall or not it was 592 00:44:37,11 --> 00:44:39,39 a presidential election year it was 593 00:44:39,44 --> 00:44:43,60 a presidential primary season and I dropped in to say hi to my friend Jack Gargan 594 00:44:43,61 --> 00:44:47,39 who owns the store and said Jack what's in the and he said what's new what's new oh 595 00:44:47,40 --> 00:44:52,99 he said this is no he said we're having a a contest right now kind of 596 00:44:53,00 --> 00:44:57,66 a little fun contest to want to name the word stuff. 597 00:45:02,23 --> 00:45:08,68 You know it does get awfully awfully slow by the time you get to March in Vermont 598 00:45:08,73 --> 00:45:15,20 it's. So I said Really really I said Well have you had any candidates for 599 00:45:15,21 --> 00:45:21,34 a new name and he said. Funny you should use that word so it turns out that 600 00:45:21,35 --> 00:45:23,80 literally just about a week before I'd been up to the store 601 00:45:24,33 --> 00:45:26,16 a nother long time friend of the store in 602 00:45:26,17 --> 00:45:29,86 a rather famous for Monterey his own right had also dropped and Jack told him about 603 00:45:29,87 --> 00:45:33,75 the stove and contest and I'm to say I was actually surprised he was around because 604 00:45:33,76 --> 00:45:36,94 he was pretty busy at that time in his life I don't know man I thought maybe used 605 00:45:36,95 --> 00:45:41,05 a home doing laundry in Burlington but he dropped into the store and obviously 606 00:45:41,06 --> 00:45:47,30 quicker on his feet than I am he said he had an idea he said I have 607 00:45:47,31 --> 00:45:51,31 a suggestion and they liked it and he wanted. 608 00:45:56,10 --> 00:46:02,57 Bernie Sanders one to start naming contest at the Lawrence bar. And you know I 609 00:46:02,58 --> 00:46:09,54 always wonder just about 3 months later Bernie Sanders lost not won his 610 00:46:09,55 --> 00:46:14,26 bid to get the Democratic presidential nomination or now we wondered if he took 611 00:46:14,30 --> 00:46:21,10 even some small measure of consolation that unlike Hillary he won still 612 00:46:21,11 --> 00:46:25,33 naming caught this is the one store I didn't write it could be it could be we find 613 00:46:25,34 --> 00:46:30,00 consolation in many different ways small and big small and big but you know there 614 00:46:30,01 --> 00:46:34,86 are also some general stores that I love to point out there all of the above these 615 00:46:34,87 --> 00:46:38,57 are like the combo platter of general stores the one the one of 616 00:46:38,58 --> 00:46:42,05 a kind because they are everything they say they have never been 617 00:46:42,06 --> 00:46:46,60 a For Sale I don't think they ever will be up for sale they are tried and true and 618 00:46:46,61 --> 00:46:51,91 they are also each in their own way have something about them that is so unique 619 00:46:52,96 --> 00:46:58,15 that they needed their own chapter. Now one of my favorites is as it happens also 620 00:46:58,16 --> 00:47:02,75 in Vermont and it is in Norwich from Mont which is kind of the upper valley area 621 00:47:02,81 --> 00:47:06,72 right so magine like Hanover New Hampshire and then go west 622 00:47:06,73 --> 00:47:10,44 a little bit just jump across the Connecticut River and you're in Vermont you're in 623 00:47:10,45 --> 00:47:15,48 Norwich from I'm OK then in whip we're not the original owners then when we're 624 00:47:15,49 --> 00:47:19,48 actual actually high school buddies who worked at the store in the 1930 S. 625 00:47:19,49 --> 00:47:20,53 By the 1950 S. 626 00:47:20,73 --> 00:47:25,06 They own the store they did very well our business was great business was great 627 00:47:25,07 --> 00:47:30,01 they were very confident they put the sign in the window. You've probably seen 628 00:47:30,02 --> 00:47:33,16 variations on that sound before right but I always joke at Dan in which it might 629 00:47:33,17 --> 00:47:38,15 actually be true OK so they did really well they wanted to expand OK they wanted to 630 00:47:38,16 --> 00:47:44,65 expand problem was they were very limited in terms of their expansion options right 631 00:47:44,78 --> 00:47:49,28 they couldn't expand on this side because of the Norwich in they couldn't expand on 632 00:47:49,32 --> 00:47:50,42 that side because 633 00:47:50,43 --> 00:47:56,97 a street so their only option was to expand directly behind the building 634 00:47:57,38 --> 00:48:03,26 in exactly the same physical rectangular footprint of the original building in 635 00:48:03,27 --> 00:48:08,32 almost 3 quarters of an acre that was back there so that's a lot of land for 636 00:48:08,33 --> 00:48:15,25 a small store to occupy but occupy it they did so what makes Dan and 637 00:48:15,26 --> 00:48:22,25 Whit's so unique is that when you walk in you know it doesn't look any 638 00:48:22,26 --> 00:48:25,17 different then what you would expect to find in 639 00:48:25,18 --> 00:48:28,46 a small New England general store it's kind of cluttered kind of claustrophobic and 640 00:48:28,47 --> 00:48:34,30 in fact the distance from the front door to that back wall where that guy and his 641 00:48:34,31 --> 00:48:38,68 son are standing is not any further than where I'm standing right now certainly not 642 00:48:38,69 --> 00:48:45,27 any further from this store to that door. But if you go just to the left there is 643 00:48:45,28 --> 00:48:50,58 another doorway it's just and there's no door there's no sign but if you go through 644 00:48:50,59 --> 00:48:52,55 that door. You're in 645 00:48:52,56 --> 00:48:57,07 a very different place you're in the back you're in the back where it just seems to 646 00:48:57,08 --> 00:49:01,69 go on and on as well it should if you're walking down an aisle that's 3 quarters of 647 00:49:01,70 --> 00:49:06,67 an acre right and so what you have that makes then and with so unique you have in 648 00:49:06,68 --> 00:49:11,70 the front you have the cluttered little New England general store and in the back 649 00:49:11,92 --> 00:49:15,84 you have now kind of like a general slow version of 650 00:49:15,85 --> 00:49:21,39 a big box store so you can imagine that you might get lost back there it's very 651 00:49:21,40 --> 00:49:27,10 maze like it comes down level it comes back up you know where or how you are 652 00:49:27,75 --> 00:49:33,49 there's no signs that employed shooter what you looking for are and you can get 653 00:49:33,50 --> 00:49:39,13 lost back there and I'm a big enough man to admit I did I did it was 654 00:49:39,14 --> 00:49:43,48 a late at winter afternoon Dan Frazier the original dance grandson was showing me 655 00:49:43,49 --> 00:49:44,98 around and he said listen sure he ended I got 656 00:49:44,99 --> 00:49:49,86 a gym bag out front you're welcome to walk around I did 510 minutes you know and 657 00:49:49,87 --> 00:49:54,24 then I was ready to leave and go back out front and every single direction I moved 658 00:49:55,13 --> 00:50:00,81 did not get me back out and you know it's not it's not alarming is much is it is 659 00:50:00,85 --> 00:50:04,84 really embarrassing because you know where you are we're going to start yelling 660 00:50:05,29 --> 00:50:07,35 Right right it's like being lost in 661 00:50:07,36 --> 00:50:10,06 a court maze you know what I mean you know when you are you're in 662 00:50:10,07 --> 00:50:13,40 a court case and Sterling Massachusetts if I could jump on an extension lead are 663 00:50:13,41 --> 00:50:18,42 probably see my car you know 30 feet away but you still like getting out any 664 00:50:18,43 --> 00:50:22,68 quicker finally I think it back out I went to the front there and I found there and 665 00:50:22,69 --> 00:50:28,99 I said then I just got lost in the back think York and he said $100.00 by Happens 666 00:50:29,00 --> 00:50:35,99 all the time I say really. To him so it turns out they allow for 667 00:50:35,100 --> 00:50:37,58 this damn weights and 668 00:50:37,59 --> 00:50:42,26 a denim weights they have the commercial equivalent of the ski patrol. 669 00:50:44,33 --> 00:50:48,49 Not how many of you ski but you know at a ski area at 670 00:50:48,50 --> 00:50:53,31 a ski area when the lifts close to the public right usually for $430.00 depending 671 00:50:53,32 --> 00:50:57,26 on the time of year when the lips close to the public then the ski patrol goes up 672 00:50:57,55 --> 00:50:59,01 right and its keeper troll in 673 00:50:59,02 --> 00:51:03,89 a woman goes down every single trail and slope to flush it out right to make sure 674 00:51:03,90 --> 00:51:09,90 God forbid nobody is to hurt left behind after dark at 9 o'clock every night at 367 675 00:51:09,91 --> 00:51:16,20 Main Street in Norwich Vermont A Dand wets they send somebody out to flush out the 676 00:51:16,21 --> 00:51:23,05 back so I said the day and I said That is crazy I said I mean it's not like you 677 00:51:23,06 --> 00:51:29,82 find people back there right at 9 o'clock and said Oh yeah. I said really you know 678 00:51:29,83 --> 00:51:34,54 yeah yeah he said I would say once or twice 679 00:51:34,55 --> 00:51:40,74 a week on average funding like some 12 year old kid one era. I said that's not good 680 00:51:41,22 --> 00:51:45,71 he said you know what's really odd though this is off the record he said What's 681 00:51:45,72 --> 00:51:48,09 really odd is that half the time we know for 682 00:51:48,10 --> 00:51:54,97 a fact that their parents left like an hour ago. Now 683 00:51:54,98 --> 00:51:56,61 my other favorite one of 684 00:51:56,62 --> 00:52:00,53 a kind is even more unique it's in winter Maine and it's interesting there's some 685 00:52:00,54 --> 00:52:04,86 parallels with Dan which for Harmon huzzy looks like hussies the German Emperor 686 00:52:04,90 --> 00:52:08,65 pronounced it huzzy And just again when he did very well had 687 00:52:08,66 --> 00:52:12,10 a little one story garage like General Store through the twenty's thirty's forty's 688 00:52:12,35 --> 00:52:15,26 did very well wanted to expand by the 1950 S. 689 00:52:15,39 --> 00:52:16,98 Who could blame him just like in 690 00:52:16,99 --> 00:52:20,80 a way very limited in terms of how he could expand he couldn't even expand in back 691 00:52:20,81 --> 00:52:20,95 there's 692 00:52:20,96 --> 00:52:27,66 a little brook back there so he expanded vertically OK so he created the now 3 693 00:52:27,67 --> 00:52:32,67 story commercial colossus that is as he's in Windsor may. And he created 694 00:52:32,68 --> 00:52:38,14 a gigantic basement level and an equally gigantic ground floor level and an equally 695 00:52:38,15 --> 00:52:44,34 giant can tick 2nd floor level. What makes hussies unique literally in all the 696 00:52:44,35 --> 00:52:45,92 world is 697 00:52:45,96 --> 00:52:52,32 a certain combination of things that they sell now so you can imagine if you're 698 00:52:52,33 --> 00:52:56,31 going to run in there and you're getting something like an oil lamp wick you know 699 00:52:56,32 --> 00:52:56,35 or 700 00:52:56,36 --> 00:53:01,09 a pair bootlaces you might think well geez I'm going to need some guidance and so there's 701 00:53:01,10 --> 00:53:05,60 a lot of ground to cover here and it's the stuff everywhere so you figure you might 702 00:53:05,61 --> 00:53:11,29 need some sort of you know sign and they and they have one and they have one so if 703 00:53:11,30 --> 00:53:17,29 you start reading the sign from the bottom up you'll mine it for maximum humor 704 00:53:17,30 --> 00:53:23,43 value OK So so far nothing crazy right wood stoves Home and Garden plumbing 705 00:53:23,47 --> 00:53:27,42 electrical paint hardware can be your fishing on the supplies guns bridal gowns. 706 00:53:30,60 --> 00:53:37,28 Come again right right so hussies in winter may is as far as our research 707 00:53:37,48 --> 00:53:43,25 shows the only general store in the world where you can buy the combination of guns 708 00:53:43,26 --> 00:53:50,21 guns and beer. Are basically your one stop shopping 709 00:53:50,22 --> 00:53:50,36 for 710 00:53:50,37 --> 00:53:56,23 a shotgun wedding. Which all kidding aside is what Harlan has his granddaughter Kristen 711 00:53:56,24 --> 00:53:57,29 Valentine had some fun with 712 00:53:57,30 --> 00:54:01,81 a new wedding day here's the only bride in her wedding picture and she's holding 713 00:54:01,82 --> 00:54:05,17 her wedding bouquet a 6 pack and are against it and the groom is holding 714 00:54:05,18 --> 00:54:11,09 a brand new 12 gauge. So as we fish as we finish. 715 00:54:12,33 --> 00:54:17,92 So this is interesting because this element that I want to share with you to finish 716 00:54:17,93 --> 00:54:22,53 which. Was not part of my book talk never mind 717 00:54:22,54 --> 00:54:29,06 a year ago it wasn't part of my book to even 6 months ago. But it is not is this is 718 00:54:29,07 --> 00:54:34,73 the 3rd book talk I've put together and what I have found invariably And it was 719 00:54:34,74 --> 00:54:39,51 true this time too which is what I'm sharing with this with you now is that you 720 00:54:39,52 --> 00:54:40,78 know you put 721 00:54:40,79 --> 00:54:43,82 a book talk together at least I don't know how other people do it but in my case 722 00:54:43,83 --> 00:54:49,37 you know you think about what would be really interesting to people from the book 723 00:54:49,58 --> 00:54:51,27 in and you think of 724 00:54:51,28 --> 00:54:56,51 a narrative that the good way to tell it you know and put it together and then 725 00:54:56,55 --> 00:55:01,82 invariably you go out you share it and you find out how stupid you are 726 00:55:02,94 --> 00:55:05,24 because half the things you think 727 00:55:05,70 --> 00:55:10,85 a fascinating seem to make people's eyes gloss over and have the things they seem 728 00:55:10,86 --> 00:55:16,49 to want to hear about you have not put in the book talk so I have learned to be 729 00:55:16,50 --> 00:55:21,99 a little bit flexible and to know that when I asked for questions as I will tonight 730 00:55:22,44 --> 00:55:25,46 that part of what that does especially early on with 731 00:55:25,47 --> 00:55:30,06 a book is it gives you some clue as to what people find interesting about this 732 00:55:30,07 --> 00:55:35,57 topic right and so when I started giving this talk to year ago every single night 733 00:55:35,72 --> 00:55:41,40 somebody would ask me and I never thought about this question 1st. If I have 734 00:55:41,41 --> 00:55:46,25 a favorite journalist or somebody say what's your favorite journalist do you 735 00:55:46,26 --> 00:55:51,13 a favor gentle story reasonable question I wasn't surprised at all by the question 736 00:55:51,44 --> 00:55:57,46 What surprised me after 2 or 3 months of getting this question every night was my 737 00:55:57,47 --> 00:56:02,79 answer because it never varied it never varied and after 738 00:56:03,04 --> 00:56:07,01 a couple of months of that I just I almost drove off the road when I was driving 739 00:56:07,02 --> 00:56:09,43 back from loan and Bert masters in a book that is 740 00:56:09,44 --> 00:56:16,37 a minute why is that my favorite general store and when I thought 741 00:56:16,38 --> 00:56:23,16 about it I was like Why have I not shared this because it's perfect at the 742 00:56:23,17 --> 00:56:30,05 end because this general store. Is the quintessence of 743 00:56:30,09 --> 00:56:36,98 my favorite stories that I've done for Chronicle which is to say that I've 744 00:56:36,99 --> 00:56:43,61 done many stories and they're not all this topic but probably my favorite or most 745 00:56:43,62 --> 00:56:48,80 memorable stories the ones that I'm really drawn to are stories about underdogs 746 00:56:49,73 --> 00:56:56,41 underdogs they could be underdogs in terms of people who have overcome sometimes 747 00:56:56,42 --> 00:56:59,67 horrible crippling setbacks obstacles and yet found 748 00:56:59,68 --> 00:57:05,10 a way to continue their life with dignity and respect and success and they can be 749 00:57:05,11 --> 00:57:08,21 an underdog a city or town you know 750 00:57:08,39 --> 00:57:12,20 a waterfront the New Bedford of Gloucester that has had to reinvent itself 751 00:57:12,21 --> 00:57:13,66 a mill town like Fall River 752 00:57:13,67 --> 00:57:18,56 a north that EMS towns where their prosperity has long since moved on and they have 753 00:57:18,57 --> 00:57:23,31 had to deal with the scourge of crime and unemployment and drugs and they find 754 00:57:23,32 --> 00:57:29,52 a way to continue what are you going to do that your town that's your town right 755 00:57:29,98 --> 00:57:34,35 and you want it to continue and these are the underdogs that have been drawn to and 756 00:57:34,36 --> 00:57:40,87 then I realized this general store is the ultimate underdog as 757 00:57:40,88 --> 00:57:46,34 a general store it has been beaten down more times than Rocky and it's found 758 00:57:46,35 --> 00:57:47,66 a way to get back up it has found 759 00:57:47,67 --> 00:57:54,65 a way to save its general store even when its general store was dead and gone and 760 00:57:54,66 --> 00:57:57,17 I mean gone so there's been 761 00:57:57,18 --> 00:58:04,14 a general storm partly Vermont to over 200 years 796 incredibly am courser one 762 00:58:04,15 --> 00:58:10,94 of only 13 general store owners in over 200 years and it has always been 763 00:58:10,95 --> 00:58:17,21 a general store it is often looked just like it looked all through its history and 764 00:58:17,22 --> 00:58:22,86 it has always occupied the same little spawn just above little Sackets broke in the 765 00:58:22,87 --> 00:58:28,81 middle of partly Vermont except when it did. Remember I said there was one store 766 00:58:29,28 --> 00:58:33,93 that didn't occupy that same spot that same physical footprint for all that time 767 00:58:34,66 --> 00:58:38,57 well this is the store the 1st time it almost wasn't there was on 768 00:58:38,58 --> 00:58:44,64 a terrible night in early May 2008 when faulty wiring in the attic caused the fire 769 00:58:44,65 --> 00:58:49,83 to break out about 1 o'clock in the morning and thank goodness for volunteer fire 770 00:58:49,84 --> 00:58:53,17 departments because they were able to muster very quickly and although it looks 771 00:58:53,18 --> 00:58:58,10 terrible they were able to save almost 2 thirds of the building and it fell to 772 00:58:58,90 --> 00:59:04,10 again the local historical society jumping into the rescue it fell to my friend 773 00:59:04,11 --> 00:59:10,51 listen to Payson of the Putney Historical Society so many know Lisa ready. Oh is it 774 00:59:10,52 --> 00:59:17,43 really. Maybe your lady did. Maybe you're related you might all these 775 00:59:17,44 --> 00:59:23,07 years you might be getting 10 percent off at the party school. You'd have a free T. 776 00:59:23,08 --> 00:59:29,81 Shirt by now. Well Lisa Papazian Lisa Papazian called 777 00:59:29,82 --> 00:59:34,45 up for guidance member or friend Paul Broun she called up Paul Broun who jumped in 778 00:59:34,46 --> 00:59:34,74 his beat 779 00:59:34,75 --> 00:59:39,37 a Prius and drove this time down upon me and he surveyed the situation said Well 780 00:59:39,38 --> 00:59:46,16 Lisa 1st thing we need to do is make the town owners of the store in terms of the 781 00:59:46,17 --> 00:59:52,62 historical society because the owners of the store had had no insurance and they 782 00:59:52,63 --> 00:59:53,54 decided to take it as 783 00:59:53,55 --> 00:59:59,14 a complete loss right off and they left town so Paul Broun made the point 784 00:59:59,41 --> 01:00:03,64 persuasive that you know in his experience he said I have found that even when 785 01:00:03,65 --> 01:00:04,83 disaster strikes 786 01:00:05,04 --> 01:00:11,65 a town cannot leave town. So right thing about that so he 787 01:00:11,66 --> 01:00:16,40 helped them and working with Bernie Sanders and Pat Leahy they found federal 788 01:00:16,41 --> 01:00:20,57 funding they found state funding they found low interest loans they help them write 789 01:00:20,58 --> 01:00:23,07 grants they help them raise money town of just under 790 01:00:23,08 --> 01:00:28,45 a 1000 people raised almost $100000.00 and they were able to rebuild the store they 791 01:00:28,46 --> 01:00:32,94 were able to rebuild the store and you know when the roof went on when the roof 792 01:00:32,95 --> 01:00:34,38 went on traffic ground to 793 01:00:34,39 --> 01:00:39,09 a hot home party everybody got out of their car some cases the cars were still 794 01:00:39,10 --> 01:00:43,03 running and everybody got out of the cars and started clapping because the beating 795 01:00:43,04 --> 01:00:48,27 heart of little puppy Vermont was beating once again and all was good in Putney and 796 01:00:48,28 --> 01:00:48,94 people breathed 797 01:00:48,95 --> 01:00:54,57 a big sigh of relief that their store was open once again but almost before they 798 01:00:54,58 --> 01:00:54,75 had 799 01:00:54,76 --> 01:01:01,66 a chance to exhale it was gone. And 800 01:01:01,67 --> 01:01:08,58 as bad as this looks it's worse how could it be worse Well this is an 801 01:01:08,59 --> 01:01:13,67 18 alarm fire it wouldn't have mattered if it was $118.00 alarms because nothing 802 01:01:13,68 --> 01:01:16,88 would have put this fire around to burn down to its foundation stones in less than 803 01:01:16,89 --> 01:01:20,71 45 minutes but that will happen when you have 804 01:01:20,72 --> 01:01:27,43 a fire helped along by massive accelerant arson so now the little town of plenty 805 01:01:27,44 --> 01:01:33,92 Vermont population 967 people had to deal with the double gut punch not only had 806 01:01:33,93 --> 01:01:39,34 they just lost the heart and soul of their little town for the 2nd time in less 807 01:01:39,35 --> 01:01:45,85 than 2 years but the person who did this horrible thing might be our neighbor who 808 01:01:45,86 --> 01:01:52,53 knows that's the terror of arson so the store was gone it felt to people in Putney 809 01:01:52,80 --> 01:01:53,32 like there'd been 810 01:01:53,33 --> 01:01:56,95 a death in the family I can't tell you how many people express that in just those 811 01:01:56,96 --> 01:01:58,21 terms to me like 812 01:01:58,22 --> 01:02:04,31 a death in the family they say you know you'd find yourself driving home by by the 813 01:02:04,32 --> 01:02:08,92 time that the sun went down early in mid early November and you know you'd be 814 01:02:08,93 --> 01:02:10,44 driving home and you'd turn in 815 01:02:10,45 --> 01:02:14,14 a corner thereby Sackets Brooke. And it was dark and for 816 01:02:14,15 --> 01:02:17,27 a moment you'd forget you'd think that you know maybe I'll run in get 817 01:02:17,28 --> 01:02:22,09 a cup of coffee see of Steves there's the if Sylvia is there behind the counter and 818 01:02:22,10 --> 01:02:27,16 instead you turn the corner and there was just blackness and they said it was 819 01:02:27,17 --> 01:02:33,19 crushing and Lisa Papazian called up our friend Paul Brant again and this time Paul 820 01:02:33,20 --> 01:02:36,34 he jumped in his Prius he came down again he drove through the night he got there 821 01:02:36,35 --> 01:02:39,83 at 6 in the morning the medical little stone church across the street from where 822 01:02:39,84 --> 01:02:45,86 the store and stood he was very he had sobering news for them he said I have 823 01:02:45,90 --> 01:02:50,45 already been on the phone with Bernie and Pat Leahy and he said I have to tell you 824 01:02:50,99 --> 01:02:57,32 that the federal funding is in the pipeline but it's dependent on collateral which 825 01:02:57,33 --> 01:03:03,32 is the store the collateral is gone the funding funds are frozen so there was 826 01:03:03,33 --> 01:03:06,65 a lot of frustration there was a lot of tears there was 827 01:03:06,66 --> 01:03:09,02 a lot of anguish after about half an hour you know it's 828 01:03:09,03 --> 01:03:12,56 a small tightly knit word got out that they were meeting at the church about the 829 01:03:12,57 --> 01:03:16,03 store and within an hour there were over 100 people they had to move the meeting 830 01:03:16,04 --> 01:03:20,36 out into the cold open air and after an hour or so an older gentleman whose family 831 01:03:20,37 --> 01:03:23,72 goes back 5 generations and partly stood up in that little ost little low stone 832 01:03:23,73 --> 01:03:29,56 wall that meets the street right there by the corner and he said. He said I just 833 01:03:29,57 --> 01:03:34,16 have one thing to say he is he said I don't care about the rest he is but I'm going 834 01:03:34,17 --> 01:03:41,06 to tell you I will be God damned if an arsonist will define my town 835 01:03:42,40 --> 01:03:46,72 and he sat down and Paul Broun kind of that his words can hang in the cold air and 836 01:03:46,73 --> 01:03:52,23 he stood up and he said Well. If I understand my friend correctly here I think we 837 01:03:52,24 --> 01:03:58,35 need to rebuild and they did and the one single silver lining of this awful tragedy 838 01:03:58,40 --> 01:04:00,29 is that it was such 839 01:04:00,33 --> 01:04:05,23 a tragedy that it made front page news all over the world the picture of the Putney 840 01:04:05,24 --> 01:04:09,59 fire was featured on the front page newspapers literally around the world from 841 01:04:09,60 --> 01:04:15,97 Paris to Rome to Jerusalem it led some evening broadcasts of America new 842 01:04:15,98 --> 01:04:21,55 shows and money poured into play they had more money than they knew what to do with 843 01:04:21,85 --> 01:04:25,90 more money than they needed to rebuild the store they formed an endowment they were 844 01:04:25,91 --> 01:04:31,10 able to rebuild the store they were able to rebuild the store bigger they were able 845 01:04:31,11 --> 01:04:35,86 to rebuild the store safer and more secure now they still needed somebody to run 846 01:04:35,87 --> 01:04:40,14 the store the town known did the summer run it they lucked out they found 847 01:04:40,15 --> 01:04:45,68 a wonderful person who just seemed like he was made to be there at this moment to 848 01:04:45,69 --> 01:04:48,96 run the store because he was he had been an immigrant he's 849 01:04:48,97 --> 01:04:54,00 a pharmacist and he said that you know when my family moved here and we barely 850 01:04:54,01 --> 01:04:55,38 spoke English and we didn't know 851 01:04:55,39 --> 01:05:02,20 a soul we'd go to the store and everybody accepted us like family 852 01:05:02,74 --> 01:05:05,93 and I want to give something back they said well what do you have in mind he said 853 01:05:05,94 --> 01:05:08,54 well if I can run my pharmacy out of even 854 01:05:08,55 --> 01:05:12,32 a little corner on the 2nd floor that you don't use I won't take 855 01:05:12,33 --> 01:05:16,50 a dime from the store and they said that sounds like 856 01:05:16,51 --> 01:05:23,26 a good idea so he did he opened his pharmacy on the 2nd floor and all was good 857 01:05:23,27 --> 01:05:29,04 again and whole again in partly Vermont until New Year's Day 27 team. 858 01:05:31,54 --> 01:05:36,75 No no I told you this was an underdog story right Rocky doesn't bounce up and knock 859 01:05:36,76 --> 01:05:40,43 out Apollo Creed it looks like he's never going to be able to win the fight. 860 01:05:42,30 --> 01:05:47,79 Because on New Year's Day 2017 this lovely gentleman died. And neither is adult 861 01:05:47,80 --> 01:05:51,86 children who moved elsewhere or had any business any idea that they wanted to come 862 01:05:51,87 --> 01:05:58,20 back to put me in the store and the store closed again but this time Paul Broun got 863 01:05:58,21 --> 01:06:02,90 the jump on potty he called the police in the basement and he said you have got to 864 01:06:02,91 --> 01:06:08,42 reopen the store she went on the people he said Lisa the longer you stay closed the 865 01:06:08,43 --> 01:06:12,94 longer you will remain closed take my word for how many people got in the store 866 01:06:12,95 --> 01:06:16,38 Procyon Nash just about 41 said Good everybody put in an hour 867 01:06:16,39 --> 01:06:22,60 a week open the store and they did the store open last May It is running again now 868 01:06:22,83 --> 01:06:27,36 it is running smoothly again now it is truly about perseverance as Paul Broun puts 869 01:06:27,37 --> 01:06:31,86 it in part me and as I finish up I do want to inject I do want to inject 870 01:06:31,87 --> 01:06:33,85 a sobering note of reality here you know we've talked 871 01:06:33,86 --> 01:06:37,58 a night about saving the general store but I don't like to do this truckin and 872 01:06:37,59 --> 01:06:38,47 leave people with it with 873 01:06:38,48 --> 01:06:43,51 a false sense of optimism because General Store still close all the time in the 874 01:06:43,52 --> 01:06:48,21 window to the tune of about $25.00 every year closed down in New England and they 875 01:06:48,22 --> 01:06:52,48 will continue they will continue to do that probably the most significant loss if 876 01:06:52,49 --> 01:06:58,96 you like history was 6 years ago in the Little Compton little village of Adamsville 877 01:06:58,97 --> 01:07:03,99 Rhode Island where Gray's clothes went greatest clothes in 2012 it was at that time 878 01:07:04,00 --> 01:07:09,81 the longest continuously operating general store in American history 224 years or 879 01:07:09,93 --> 01:07:13,74 just about 20 years less than the country had been in business so that's a hell of 880 01:07:13,75 --> 01:07:18,83 a run and perhaps even more poignant this is 881 01:07:18,87 --> 01:07:24,66 a page from my book. When the book went to the publisher last fall the Monterey 882 01:07:24,67 --> 01:07:29,21 general store of Monterey in the Berkshires was alive and well and today it's gone 883 01:07:29,86 --> 01:07:35,69 so these will still close more will still close and I think that the one thing that 884 01:07:35,70 --> 01:07:39,06 now will is saving a lot of general stores is 885 01:07:39,07 --> 01:07:44,59 a new breed of general store owners but General Stores need someone to own them 886 01:07:44,64 --> 01:07:48,68 they are not museums I know we love them some of them for their some of their 887 01:07:48,72 --> 01:07:54,96 historic in the style value they are not museums a museum is a museum they are 888 01:07:54,97 --> 01:07:58,97 a business and they need someone who can run it successfully as 889 01:07:58,98 --> 01:08:04,40 a business and preserve this wonderful history and there is 890 01:08:04,41 --> 01:08:09,34 a new breed of general store owners that are doing this and what makes them 891 01:08:09,35 --> 01:08:15,62 particularly fascinating to me is their relative youth not everybody but many of 892 01:08:15,63 --> 01:08:22,63 them are young millennial young like 30 give or take younger bit older and 893 01:08:22,64 --> 01:08:24,24 it surprises me no not 894 01:08:24,25 --> 01:08:28,92 a millennialists mind you but it's surprises me because I just had 895 01:08:28,98 --> 01:08:35,57 a it sense that people of that age may not have the same feeling for 896 01:08:35,61 --> 01:08:37,04 a brick and mortar pillar of 897 01:08:37,05 --> 01:08:40,42 a community that perhaps their parents or their grandparents them but many of them 898 01:08:40,43 --> 01:08:44,55 do and thank God I like to call my poster children of the new breed of general 899 01:08:44,56 --> 01:08:49,87 store owners and white film ain't ben and Terran Marcus the perfect perfect picture 900 01:08:49,88 --> 01:08:54,77 of the new breed of general store owners and what so perfect the bottom they never 901 01:08:54,81 --> 01:08:55,39 want to own 902 01:08:55,40 --> 01:09:01,74 a chair or ever you're looking at farmers they met at agriculture school in 903 01:09:01,75 --> 01:09:05,47 Washington state they moved back to White feel when they graduated because Ben's 904 01:09:05,48 --> 01:09:08,06 family was from there they thought maybe they'd be able to afford 905 01:09:08,07 --> 01:09:11,48 a few acres of land to farm they looked and looked couldn't afford it finally 906 01:09:11,49 --> 01:09:15,52 a guy in town came up to one day said listen I know you guys are looking for some 907 01:09:15,93 --> 01:09:18,34 land to farm he said I'm going to make you 908 01:09:18,38 --> 01:09:25,23 a crazy offer. He said I will give you give you 5 909 01:09:25,24 --> 01:09:31,81 acres of prime farmland they said what's the catch he said the catch he said The 910 01:09:31,82 --> 01:09:33,90 catch is that there's 911 01:09:33,91 --> 01:09:38,84 a long closed general store on their property he said I was stuck maybe I would 912 01:09:38,85 --> 01:09:41,65 reopen it but I don't think that's going to happen but he said if you will reopen 913 01:09:41,66 --> 01:09:48,65 the store and keep it open for 2 years the land is yours and they still 914 01:09:48,66 --> 01:09:52,04 deliberated That's how much they did not want to run 915 01:09:52,22 --> 01:09:55,55 a general store so they find they decided they'd hedge their bets right they 916 01:09:55,56 --> 01:10:00,100 decided to only buy stuff for the store that they like to specially food. They 917 01:10:01,01 --> 01:10:04,17 thought will only buy food for the store that we like to eat you know because the 918 01:10:04,18 --> 01:10:07,38 thinking was when this whole crazy thing goes out they surely it will we can 919 01:10:07,39 --> 01:10:11,38 personally liquidate the inventory right if you want to go food shopping for 2 920 01:10:11,39 --> 01:10:17,90 years but that didn't happen it didn't happen I mean the lamb produced Don't get me 921 01:10:17,91 --> 01:10:21,45 wrong incredible organic produce carrots the the link the 922 01:10:21,46 --> 01:10:25,13 a forearm and people were suddenly lining up at 6 in the morning on Friday morning 923 01:10:25,36 --> 01:10:26,76 to buy their produce and then it 924 01:10:26,77 --> 01:10:30,78 a certain point 6 months in Ben and Tara looked at each other they said would it be 925 01:10:30,79 --> 01:10:34,60 great if instead of one of us driving hundreds of miles every week to hit every 926 01:10:34,61 --> 01:10:38,22 farmer's market in southern New England which is what you have to do now would be 927 01:10:38,23 --> 01:10:42,76 great if you can find somebody to open up like a little cafe in the store to use 928 01:10:42,77 --> 01:10:46,74 a produce. And they did they found a great person to open up 929 01:10:46,75 --> 01:10:50,71 a little cafe in the store and now people were lining up not just the buy their 930 01:10:50,72 --> 01:10:57,53 produce but for breakfast and for one and then and then they decided they would 931 01:10:57,54 --> 01:11:02,92 add all kinds of new services and things they had never been seen in 932 01:11:02,93 --> 01:11:06,54 a general store and this is where the new breed of general store owners actually 933 01:11:06,55 --> 01:11:09,64 have something in common with public libraries today because you know the good 934 01:11:09,65 --> 01:11:13,74 public libraries today know something they know something that 935 01:11:13,75 --> 01:11:16,86 a lot of people don't think about all the time and that is 936 01:11:17,37 --> 01:11:21,59 a little inconvenient truth that public libraries today and by that I'm 937 01:11:21,60 --> 01:11:23,14 a passionate lover 938 01:11:23,18 --> 01:11:29,74 a public libraries but public libraries today know it is not just about books 939 01:11:29,78 --> 01:11:35,77 anymore it can't be just about books anymore but you have many different ways to 940 01:11:35,78 --> 01:11:39,19 get a book you do not have to schlep to the public library to get 941 01:11:39,20 --> 01:11:46,16 a book Road it. Is done right but it's better 942 01:11:46,17 --> 01:11:52,24 if you don't however the good public libraries the creative ones the ones that have 943 01:11:52,25 --> 01:11:57,46 gotten this trend have added all kinds of things now that libraries never did 944 01:11:57,47 --> 01:12:03,61 before all kinds of added value all kinds of services programs like this one right 945 01:12:04,35 --> 01:12:08,22 the new British general store owners get that too guess what nobody has come in to 946 01:12:08,23 --> 01:12:08,43 buy 947 01:12:08,44 --> 01:12:14,86 a General it any general store knowing one in 25 years or more to buy an anvil or 948 01:12:14,87 --> 01:12:19,52 a sledgehammer most general stores don't have any hardware anymore because you can 949 01:12:19,53 --> 01:12:21,17 go to Lowe's you can go to Home Depot to buy 950 01:12:21,18 --> 01:12:25,80 a sledgehammer she is like Emma you know what you can't get at Home Depot. You 951 01:12:25,81 --> 01:12:30,27 can't get over it. I see where your priorities are. 952 01:12:32,81 --> 01:12:35,68 You can't get 20 minutes tearing over 953 01:12:35,69 --> 01:12:41,05 a cup of coffee with your friend in town OK and that's what they've realised so 954 01:12:41,06 --> 01:12:44,08 they have on they are now offering things that were never done in 955 01:12:44,09 --> 01:12:50,98 a general store open mike night they've had wine tastings they have yoga classes 956 01:12:51,09 --> 01:12:56,39 they have daycare they have now the 1st small lending library within 45 miles and 957 01:12:56,40 --> 01:13:01,22 because of what they've done now the general store is thriving now it is again 958 01:13:01,23 --> 01:13:06,95 popular with young families and young and old and it gives hope and what gives more 959 01:13:06,96 --> 01:13:11,75 hope about the future for general stores of the reopening of hope Gen In 2016 that 960 01:13:11,76 --> 01:13:16,46 because of this new breed of general store owners I now have guarded optimism about 961 01:13:16,47 --> 01:13:21,70 the future of New England's general stores and that is new in the general stores 962 01:13:22,03 --> 01:13:25,81 Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.